A couple were killed in a massive landslide that also blocked a highway in the northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh Thursday.

Pham Van Nghi, 24, and his wife Vi Thi Nguyet, 23, were traveling on a motorbike in Hoa Binh Province's Mai Chau District at 7 a.m. when an estimated 7,000 cubic meters of soil and rocks slid off a mountain and buried them.

News website Dan Tri said authorities confirmed the two were dead though they were still trying to retrieve their bodies. The wife was two months pregnant.

Locals said land erosion has been occurring for the last several days amid incessant rain.

Three families living near National Highway No.6 in Mai Chau have been evacuated.

Vehicles have been instructed to avoid the stretch of highway.

Vietnam's northern highlands are highly prone to landslides, which often kill people.